


Searching for someone to fix my drive

by lesbianbean



Series: you want the world/well what's it worth? [6]
Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, American Politics, Arguments, Bad BDSM Etiquette, Boss/Employee Relationship, Breathplay, F/F, Galas, Power Imbalance, Rule 63, Tabloid Journalism, canon-typical idiocy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:48:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27638435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbianbean/pseuds/lesbianbean
Summary: Starscream, the newly minted chief of staff to the Senate Majority Whip, knows her job should theoretically mean she has more power and influence than ever. But it doesn't. Megatron knows she shouldn't still be haunted by something that happened years ago. But she is. Neither of them are handling it that well.
Relationships: Megatron/Starscream (Transformers), implied Starscream/Lockdown
Series: you want the world/well what's it worth? [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1110879
Comments: 12
Kudos: 40





	1. Chapter 1

Megatron always felt out of place at Washington parties, but not in a way she disliked. It was somewhat comforting to know she was a transplant, that the sleek clothes and false smiles were not her birthright, that she had clawed her way there with bloody fingers and sharp claws. 

Soundwave fit in, of course, but Soundwave’s power came from her ability to blend in. She was a chameleon of the highest order. Megatron had seen her with teachers’ unions, veterans, and donors, and each time Soundwave managed to effortlessly adopt her posture and their language. Right now, she was speaking with a group of other senate staffers—Megatron noted with satisfaction that the current majority leader’s chief of staff was in the crowd. Soundwave’s hair was swept back in a bun, and she was wearing a sleek black suit. Rumble and Frenzy were sitting at their assigned table, watching a video on Frenzy’s phone. 

Starscream fit in in an entirely different way. She was bright and glittery, drawing attention to her like a magnet. Her red silk blouse was sleeveless, exposing her dark brown arms, and her earrings and bangle bracelets sparkled under the lights. Megatron had seen her at campaign events before, but there was something about the way she looked at this occasion that was different. She met Megatron’s eye for a moment and winked before turning back to the congressperson she was speaking with. Satisfied, Megatron turned towards the bar. It was going well enough that she felt she had earned a nice whiskey. She’d struck up a polite conversation with the bartender--a law student who was moonlighting to pay her student loans--when Soundwave appeared at her elbow.

“Megatron. We have a problem.”

Megatron put down her glass, smiling apologetically at the bartender. “I’m sorry.” She turned to Soundwave. “What’s going on?”

“Starscream.”

* * *

“Hello. I don’t believe we’ve met.”

“Sentinel Prime!” Starscream plastered on her brightest smile, holding out her hand to shake. Sentinel was taller than her, but most everyone was and Starscream had learned a long time ago not to be intimidated by height. “Starscream. Chief of staff to the new majority whip.” 

“Oh, I know her.” Sentinel smiled coolly. “Believe me, everyone knows about the scourge of the senate. You must be quite the tough cookie to be joining her staff.”

Starscream fought down the urge to roll her eyes. “Oh, believe me. I’m more than capable of handling Megatron, or anyone else in Washington. I’m from the private sector, I’ve managed more than my share of tough cookies.”

“Fascinating.” Sentinel took a sip of her champagne. “I’m sure you have all kinds of stories about that.”

 _Jackpot_. “In fact, I do. I had a really interesting conversation with this airplane contractor--”

“Starscream.” Starscream turned to see Soundwave at her elbow, looking grim. “Come with me.” 

“Oh, Soundwave, I really think it can wait for a while, I was just telling Defense Secretary Prime about--”

“Now.” Soundwave took Starscream’s elbow.

“You don’t have to--god, okay. I guess we can talk later, Madame Secretary?”

Sentinel smiled at her. “Of course. It was a pleasure to meet you, Starscream.”

Starscream glanced over her shoulder, waiting until Sentinel was out of earshot before turning to Soundwave. “Okay, what the fuck is your problem?”

“Megatron told you not to speak with members of the administration.”

“Yes, well, we’re at a fucking networking event! I had an opportunity to talk to some of the most powerful people in Washington!” She looked over at Megatron, who was glaring at her. Even across the room, she felt a chill. “Okay, you know what? Tell Megatron she can fuck off. I’m going to go do my job and make polite conversation with some more people.” She shot Megatron a glare and tried not to think about what was going to happen when the event was over. 

* * *

“I told you to watch and listen.” Megatron threw a stack of files on her desk and jabbed her finger at Starscream. “Not spend the evening trying to wine and dine Washington’s power brokers. You’re not a lobbyist anymore.” 

“You hired me for my connections! If you wanted someone to ‘watch and listen,’ you should have stuck with Soundwave.”

“I wish I had.” Starscream’s stomach lurched unpleasantly, which she covered up with an eye roll. Megatron glared at her. “There are things about Washington that you don’t understand.”

“Then explain them to me! I’m not a fucking child, I’m your chief of staff. Why, exactly, is networking at a political event wrong?”

“It’s not the networking that’s wrong, it’s who you’re talking to.”

Starscream sighed. “Oh my god, are you going to be a moral purist again?”

“Moral purist?” Megatron threw another stack of files onto her desk with a bang and shoved her swivel chair out of the way, pacing around the room like a tiger in a cage. “Starscream, this is my life’s work. I have dedicated everything I have to this.” 

“Yes, I know.” 

“Do you? Do you have any inkling of what I’ve sacrificed? This isn’t like pledging a sorority, it’s _work_ that you have to grind out over years and years.”

“Are you serious?” Starscream put her hands on her hips. “I fucking designed your campaign and the whole Pacific Northwest senate strategy! You’re the Majority Whip because of me. Why are you so angry about this? It was a five-minute conversation. ”

Megatron laughed, a mocking edge to her voice. “Really? Please. You’re a rich girl playing dress-up, do you really think that your boozy lunches flashing your cleavage at rich assholes makes any kind of difference?”

Starscream felt like Megatron had slapped her in the face. “Fuck you, you pretentious megalomaniac!”

Megatron took a step closer to her with a truly thunderous glare on her face. “Watch yourself.”  
“I’m not watching anything. And you know what? If I really am all that useless, you’re _still_ an idiot because you made me your fucking chief of staff.”

She turned to storm off, feeling like that was a good note to end it on, but Megatron grabbed her elbow. “Don’t walk away from me.”

Starscream twisted loose, stumbling back and glaring at Megatron. “Oh, I’m sorry. Have I not been dismissed?”

“No one talks to me like that, especially not spoiled brats who know absolutely nothing about the job they’ve promised to do?”

“ _I_ know nothing? You’re the one who suddenly has a problem with networking at an event designed specifically for the purpose of doing so! I’m surprised you even got elected in the first place. Unless you just murdered all your opponents. That’s what they say about you, you know.” 

“You are far, far over the line of what’s appropriate.” Megatron loomed over her, and she took another step back.

“A little hypocritical of you to say that isn’t it?” It hit her that the smartest move would probably be to try and de-escalate the situation, to say something flattering and reasonable. “There’s a line _now_ , but not when you’re the one throwing a tantrum.”

Megatron’s eyes flashed. Starscream felt a giddy lurch of terror-excitement like she was at a theme park, at the top of a roller coaster. She’d seen Megatron snap boards in half like they were toothpicks and suspected that she could break her neck just as easily, and (not for the first time) she’d gotten her angry enough that Megatron might actually do it. It shouldn’t be as thrilling as it was. 

“I’m tempted to teach you a lesson to show you just how in over your head you are.”

 _Shit_. She shouldn’t keep pushing this. She shouldn’t _want_ to keep pushing this. She shouldn’t feel her heart pounding in her chest and between her legs, and she shouldn’t be thinking about how strong Megatron’s hands were, how easily they could hold her down. “I wish you would.”  
Megatron’s eyes went wide for a moment in surprise and then narrowed. Starscream had a moment to think _oh_ before Megatron shoved her into the office wall with a jolt and ripped open her formal event blouse. Buttons clattered onto the hardwood floor. Starscream barely had a moment to be outraged--that was _new_ \--before Megatron had grabbed a handful of her pin-straight hair and yanked. She shuddered, and Megatron pushed her knee between Starscream’s legs, raising her eyebrow at what she found.

“Really, Starscream?”

Starscream’s blood boiled. “Fuck you.” She slapped Megatron across the face, and then wound up to do it again. Megatron caught her wrist and pushed it into the wall.

“Do you want to rethink that decision?”

“I wish I’d worn sharper rings.”

Megatron squeezed her wrist hard enough that she winced. “Is this what you want, brat?”

Starscream nodded, and Megatron yanked on her hair again, harder this time. “Say it.”

“Make me.”

And then Megatron’s hand was around her throat, squeezing just hard enough that Starscream could hear the air rasping through her windpipe and she was both more turned on than she’d ever been in her life and fucking _terrified_ because she and Megatron were both unstable elements that had been mixed together and she had no idea what would happen next. “I won’t ask again, princess.” She bore down a little more and Starscream couldn’t hold back a truly embarrassing moan. 

“Fuck me.” 

Megatron smirked, leaning down to kiss Starscream’s jaw. Her lips brushed her ear. “I didn’t hear a please.”

“Are you serious?” Megatron squeezed and Starscream shuddered. “Please. Fuck me, please.”

She could feel Megatron’s sharp smile against her cheek. “ _Good_ girl.” The grip on her throat went slack, and Megatron’s knee pressed up higher, where she was wet, and Starscream desperately ground against it, needing some relief for the overwhelming _need_ that had built up as Megatron toyed with her like a cat with a bird. Megatron was watching her hungrily. 

“This really isn’t much. Is this all it takes to get you wet?”  
“Stop it.”

“Is this why you’re always such a pain? God, you’re going to come just like this, aren’t you?” Starscream could feel her orgasm building, like a knot in her chest being pulled tighter. But just as it crested--

Megatron pulled her hand away. “You’re that desperate for attention.” Starscream was horrified to feel her eyes getting wet. She ground harder against Megatron’s leg, squeezing her eyes shut. She could hear the older woman’s mocking laugh. “Oh, are you going to cry?”

“Shut up.”

Megatron pulled her hair again, and she could _feel_ her dark eyes watching her, waiting for her to crack so she could dig her hands in and pry her apart. “Look at me, Starscream.” Starscream squeezed her eyes shut. She could hear Megatron’s voice in her ear, but she felt the other woman was miles away, and she could feel so _alone_ when the other woman was literally inside of her. Although she supposed it wasn’t so different from how she’d felt since she got off the plane in Washington three months ago.

“That’s it. Come for me.” Starscream bit down on her lower lip so she wouldn’t scream as she came. Her mouth filled with the taste of copper.

“Starscream?” Megatron was holding her up, but she’d stepped back a bit, which Starscream was grateful for. “Starscream, are you all right?”

The words hit harder than anything else that Megatron had done. Starscream realized her hands were shaking. She pushed Megatron back and groped behind her for the door. 

“Starscream!”

Starscream couldn’t look at her. She fought to keep her voice steady. “I have to go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! You might remember this fic from a few months ago--I really wasn't able to finish it b/c work-related reasons but now my schedule is considerably more open so I thought I'd drag it back out of my closet and dust it off. Hope you enjoy it and are staying safe rn--please wear a mask and social distance and everything.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A picture snapped at the exact wrong time makes everything worse.

It wasn’t the first time that Megatron had slept in her office. Or tried to. Mostly she drank whisky and stared at the smooth white plaster ceiling. 

It wasn’t like she and Starscream hadn’t done similar things before. But she’d never felt...worried about Starscream’s reaction the way she did now. 

This was exactly what she’d tried to avoid. What she had done before--finding a girl with a pretty smile at a bar and bringing her back to her apartment --was easier. A sweet paralegal from Austin who she would never see again wouldn’t have uncomfortable questions about Sentinel or the Liberty Party. 

_This is why you don’t sleep with your employees_ , said a stern voice in her head that sounded like Soundwave. 

“I know, all right?” Megatron took another swig of her drink. She didn’t want to think about what a terrible decision she had made. 

* * *

Soundwave could tell that something was wrong as soon as she got to the office. Megatron was wearing one of the suits she kept in her office, which meant she hadn’t gone back to her townhouse, and she had the intensely furious look on her face that Soundwave associated with Sentinel. 

When Starscream stalked into the office, she was wearing a high-necked blouse and she also looked like she hadn’t slept. She glared at Soundwave. “What the fuck are you looking at?” Her voice was slightly hoarse. 

Soundwave didn’t bother to answer. She distracted herself for a moment by refreshing Politico’s home page, hoping to see some news about the budget bill. Her stomach dropped.

“Senator?” She only raised her voice by a hair but Megatron instantly swept out of her office, casually snagging Starscream’s sleeve and turning her away from the door with the shiny new “Chief of Staff” plaque. Soundwave noted that even then, they didn’t look at each other. 

“What is it, and how bad, Soundwave?”

Soundwave spun her laptop around, pushing it towards Megatron. Starscream leaned over her shoulder to look. 

“Oh God.” Megatron covered her face.

Starscream was less restrained. “Fuck me!”

The picture was from the gala last night, clearly taken surreptitiously on someone’s phone. It showed Starscream standing with Sentinel Prime, champagne glasses in hand, heads thrown back in laughter. On the other side of the frame was Megatron, watching the three of them with her arms crossed and a glare on her face. 

“Senator--”

“Neither of you speak.” Megatron picked up the laptop and walked into her office, closing the door behind her, nearly hitting Starscream in the face.

“Are you fucking serious--fine.” Starscream pulled her phone out of her pocket, clearly looking for the story. Soundwave, resigning herself to the reality that she wasn’t getting her laptop back anytime soon, reached for her own phone. 

The story was grim. In the normal Politico fashion, it spun an elaborate narrative of half-truths and rumors into a seemingly convincing story, casting Starscream as out of her depth and naive and Megatron as distracted by Starscream for _reasons_ \--the salacious undertones practically oozed from the screen.

Soundwave heard a shout and crash from the other room and said a silent prayer of mourning for her laptop. Megatron stalked back out of the office. “How the _hell_ did this get published?”

“I’ll have Politico’s editor on the phone in an hour, Senator.”

“See that you do. And _you_.” Megatron rounded on Starscream, and the viciousness in her voice almost made Soundwave wince. “I hope you have a clear understanding of just how much trouble you’ve gotten us into.”

“Me?” Starscream shrieked. “How is this my fault?”

“I told you to stay in the background and observe, and instead you decided to flirt with one of the most poisonous vipers in the Washington basket.”

“Are you still fucking on this? I was doing my fucking _job_. You _hired_ me to make connections and then took me to a D.C. event where I had the chance to talk to the fucking Secretary of Defense.”

“You know, sprinkling expletives into every other sentence doesn’t make you any more of a big girl.”

“Oh, go fuck yourself with a fucking cactus you pretentious asshole! I can’t believe you’re blaming me for the fact that you looked sour in a photograph.”

“I’m blaming you for being unable to follow instructions. I’m blaming you for being unable to stop thinking about furthering your own career and get in line with the broader mission that you’ve been hired to be a part of for ten seconds.”

“None of this would have been a problem if you just fucking explained this to me.”

“I shouldn’t have to explain things to you for you to do them.”

“Yes, you fucking should! I’m your right hand, not your fucking gopher. You said you wanted someone who questioned you.”

“Clearly I neglected to add that I wanted that person to have talent.” Starscream grabbed the nearest item--a glass ashtray with the Capitol building engraved on it--and threw it on the ground, where it cracked into three large pieces. Megatron smirked humorlessly. “Real mature, princess.”

“Fuck you.” Starscream grabbed her phone, her purse, and her red coat, sweeping out of the office. Megatron also turned on her heel, slamming her office door behind her. 

Soundwave exhaled slowly in the sudden quiet. Her tea had gotten cold, and she was behind on answering her emails, but first she had to order a new laptop. 

* * *

The bar Starscream had found was beneath her usual standards but it was quiet, and no one knew who she was which was what she wanted after a day of doing humiliating damage control. 

“You look like shit, babe.” Someone sat down in the seat next to her. 

Starscream recognized the voice instantly. “Lockdown.”

The journalist winked at her and slid a twenty across the counter. “A gin and tonic for me and a vodka cranberry for my lady friend here.”

“I’m not your friend.”

“Be nice to me. I remembered what you like to order in shitty bars.” The bartender gave them both a dirty look as she slid their drinks across the counter, and Starscream couldn’t hold back a chuckle.

“You’re not nearly charming enough to get away with that, Lockdown.”

“Don’t be cold, princess.”

Starscream flinched. “Don’t call me that.” She knocked back half her drink in one gulp.

“How’s work going? You like being at the right hand of the scourge of the Senate?”

“Hmph!” Starscream finished her drink and slid her empty glass across the counter. “Your small talk needs work, Lockdown.”

“We don’t have to talk.” Lockdown put her hand on the small of Starscream’s back. “There’s a Marriott across the street.”

Starscream shrugged off Lockdown’s hand, glancing around the bar. Thankfully, no one had heard--the bartender was flirting with a young man on the other end of the counter and the only other people in the bar were absorbed in the sports game on the television. “Again, you’re not nearly charming enough to get away with that.”

“Come on, we’re both off the clock.”

Starscream stabbed at the half-melted ice cubes in her drink with a toothpick. “Haven’t you been paying attention to the fucking news, Lockdown? I don’t need to look more like an unhinged slut than I already do.”

“Oh, of course I know all about the news. I can help with that, you know. I’ve got some friends working in _Politico_.”

“Yes, nothing would improve my reputation more than having sex with a journalist in exchange for favors.”

“Do you have to say it like that?”

“That’s what it would be.”

“Look, it doesn’t have to be in exchange for sex.”

“Like what?”

“My paper currently doesn’t have press passes for the trip to Iraq next week.”

“Your paper? Did you start publishing news when I wasn’t looking?”

Lockdown grabbed her heart jokingly. “Ouch. But seriously, I could use some help. Pull some strings, and we can call it even.”

Starscream looked over at Lockdown, weighing her options. “Okay.”

“Starscream, you’re a gift from the heavens, I swear.”

“Sure, whatever.” Starscream’s phone buzzed. She looked down--another missed call from Megatron. _Fuck it_. “Do you still have that Marriott room key?” 

* * *

Starscream was disoriented for a moment when she woke up in the queen-sized hotel bed, and then the night before snapped back into focus and she groaned, both from her hangover and the realization of what she’d done. 

“Morning, sugar.” Lockdown was sitting at the hotel desk clicking away on a hideous black-and-green custom laptop. “Sleep okay?”

“Fuck off.”

“Your pillow talk needs work.” 

“You’re not even in bed.” She sat up, groggily rubbing her forehead. “What time is it?”

“About six.”

“Crap.” Starscream jumped out of bed and groped around on the floor for her red A-line skirt and white blouse, which was hopelessly wrinkled. “I have that damage control meeting with Politico in a half hour.” 

Lockdown snorted. “Yeah, I don’t think that meeting is happening.” 

Starscream frantically looked around for her second pump, finally finding it under Lockdown’s desk. Lockdown noticed her looking and kicked it over to her. “Thanks. And what the fuck do you mean?”

“Oh, it just broke five minutes ago. The journalist who wrote the hit piece on you got canned. And Politico issued an apology.”

“What?” Starscream toppled over onto the bed, a combination of shock and trying to get her blouse buttoned up.

“Yeah, looks like the Scourge of the Senate came down on her pretty hard. Majority leader doesn’t like gossip.” 

“They issued a fucking _apology_?”

Lockdown snorted. “I really don’t know why you were worried--no one’s gonna spread rumors if it means they get blasted with a cannon.”

Starscream grabbed the nearest object--a pillow--and hurled it at Lockdown, along with another pillow and a cup still half-full of vodka cranberry. Lockdown dodged, looking both amused and bewildered. “What the hell?”

“I’m gonna kill her.” Starscream grabbed her purse and her phone, nearly tripping over one of the pillows on her way out. “I’m going to fucking kill her, I swear.”

* * *

Megatron finally, blissfully, had a half hour in her office with Soundwave to actually do some strategizing. 

“We need to do something about the budget cuts bill that Trion is pushing.”

“Mmm-hm.”

“Also, we need the votes to override her veto on the housing budget bill.”

Soundwave nodded. 

“I’m worried about--

The door banged open. “What the _fuck_ , Megatron?”

Megatron sighed. “Listen, princess, I don’t know how they do things in the Golden State but around here you don’t barge into meetings.”

“Fuck you and fuck your meeting. Your meeting can eat my entire _ass_.”

Soundwave coughed politely, and Starscream spun towards her with her hands on her hips. “You. Get out.”

Megatron caught Soundwave’s eye. Soundwave cocked her eyebrow, questioning, and Megatron gave her a barely perceptible nod. Without saying anything, Soundwave scooped up her new work laptop and the stack of paper on top of it, stuck her pen in her hair in one fluid motion, and swept out of the room without looking at Starscream. Starscream glared after her, and then turned back to Megatron with murder in her eyes. 

“You went after that columnist.”

Megatron sank into her chair, folding her hands on the desk. “Yes.” 

“You’re just--you’re not even going to try to deny it?”

“No.” She could have stopped there but there was something so enticing about how furious Starscream was. “You seem pretty wound up about this.”

“You--you--absolute fucking _asshole_! I don’t need you to protect me! I could have handled it! I don’t need _you_ weighing in like you’re chasing my prom date off the lawn with a shotgun.”

Megatron sighed. “This is bigger than you, Starscream. You’re part of a larger picture, and a message had to be sent.”

“What message?”

“No one in Washington gets to touch what’s mine.”

“Excuse me?” Starscream crossed her arms. “I’m not anyone’s, especially not _yours_.” 

“You don’t seem to be grasping what you’ve signed up for, but I’ll explain it again. Everyone and everything in this party is mine. You work for me, so any attack on you is an attack on me, and an attack on the party. And that cannot be allowed to stand.”

Starscream rolled her eyes. “Will you stop fucking talking to me like a cartoon movie villain? I’m your chief of staff. You hired me to be your right hand--why wasn’t I in this fucking meeting? You’ll talk strategy with Soundwave, but all I’m good for is running errands like a fucking intern.”

“I think you’re being unreasonable.”

“You know this is an even bigger story now, right? It looks like our office can’t handle criticism.”

“It looks like our office won’t stand for petty tabloid gossip.”

“You still haven’t even explained to me why this picture is a big deal.”

“I’ll tell you that when you tell me why you ran out of my office last night.”

Starscream flinched. It was barely perceptible, but Megatron knew how to sniff out weaknesses. Then she straightened back up, and her pretty eyes narrowed. “Okay. I’ll tell _you_ that when you tell me why you clearly have a history with Sentinel Prime.”

Megatron should have expected it--she normally admired how the girl knew how to go to the jugular--but it still felt like Starscream had hit her on the head with a blunt object. The corner of Starscream’s mouth tilted up slightly in triumph, and Megatron’s vision went white with rage for a moment. She stood up, pushing her chair back slowly. “I have asked you, repeatedly, not to talk about her.”

“I work at your right hand! I shouldn’t have to be finding things out from Lockdown. When she told me--” Starscream covered her mouth with her hand.

“When _who_ told you?” If she had been angry before, now she was furious. She knew about Starscream’s past with Lockdown, of course, but the idea that Starscream had gone to see her recently, confided in her, maybe done more, made her want to punch a hole in the nearest wall.

“We knew each other from before I worked for you, she’s an old ally, it’s nothing--”

“And what did she tell you?” Megatron stalked out from behind the desk. “Does she have salacious details about my military past?”  
“Yes.” Starscream held her hands out in front of her, placating. “She works for a glorified tabloid; she has salacious details on everyone. She thinks that Optimus and Elita are in a polycule with the governor of Texas. We have a history.”

“Oh, you have a _history_. Even better.” Megatron was going to break something. She really was. Starscream took another step back, and Megatron realized that she’d unintentionally backed her into the wall. “Pillow talk can be _so_ informative.” 

“Are you _serious_? Why does that matter?” 

She could see Starscream’s pulse beating in her throat, the color rising to her cheeks. Starscream was afraid, she knew she was afraid, and she wanted her to be. “It matters because you represent this office, you represent me, and when you represent my office you don’t go meeting with journalists without my permission. I do not stand for disloyalty. If I wanted, I could end your career in this town--” she snapped her fingers “--like _that_. Do you understand me?” Starscream nodded. “Say it.”

“I understand.”

“Good.” Megatron took a step. “Now you’re going to get out of my office. And I don’t want us to ever have to have this conversation again.”

Starscream scurried out of her office and Megatron sank down on her couch. She had expected to feel better--shouting at someone usually lifted her spirits. But it hadn’t this time.

* * *

Starscream spent a good five minutes screaming into one of her office’s decorative pillows, which she didn’t even _like._ Like everything else in the office, it had been there before--probably picked out by Soundwave. It was navy blue, and it looked _hideous_ with the black leather couch. 

“Fuck.”

She sank down onto the floor and threw the pillow across the room. It bounced harmlessly off her coffee table. 

The room was smaller than it should have been--she was the Majority Leader’s chief of staff, surely the office should reflect that? She wondered if Megatron had done this deliberately, to show her how insignificant she was. 

She pulled out her phone and stared at it for a long moment before dialing. 

Her sister sounded groggy. “Screamer? Are you--”

“Shut up. Just like--talk about something stupid and pointless for a little while and don’t ask any questions. Can you do that?”

“Do you know what time it is here right now?”

“I don’t care.” Her voice almost broke.

“I--” Skywarp hesitated, and Starscream could picture the skeptical look on her face. “Fine. Okay. I went for a run yesterday and I found a new juice place.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, it’s called like, Project Juice? Anyway, it’s great. I got their detox blend and I swear my skin is already better. It had mint, pineapple, coconut water, and I think there was ginger? Anyway, it was delicious.”

Starscream leaned her head back on the desk, squeezing her eyes shut. “Yeah.”

“I’m gonna take TC there tomorrow. I’m trying to get her off caffeine.”

“Good luck.” Thundercracker was the only person she knew who drank more coffee than she did. 

“I swear if you could try it, you’d totally get on board.”

“Well, I can’t. Because I’m not in California.” Starscream swiped at her cheeks. “People don’t drink juice here.”

Her sister’s voice was almost painfully gentle. “I saw the article in Politico.”

“Tell me more about the juice place.”

“Screamer--”

“Please just tell me about the fucking juice, Warp.”

“Okay.” Skywarp sighed. “Okay."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Skywarp's Friendly Jock Energy increases with every scene I write with her lmao. I'd apologize for dunking on Politico but it deserves it honestly. Also! If you commented on this story when I posted it earlier this year I just want to thank you here--I know your comments were deleted with the story but I read them and they were lovely and I'm super grateful for you.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morning routines

“Ugh.” Starscream wasn’t too hungover, but her mouth was ridiculously dry and her head was throbbing, and it was disgustingly early. After a few minutes, she concluded that she wasn’t going to be able to fall asleep again. 

She stumbled into the kitchen and drank directly from the faucet for a minute, and then fumbled for the coffeemaker. 

As the coffee brewed, she scrolled through her emails, stopping at one from Lockdown labeled “About Last Night...”

“Oh god.” She opened it, already dreading the contents.

 _Hey babe,_ the email read.

_Just got the passport clearance, wanted to thank you for the great conversation...I’ll get you something nice while I’m abroad. I could have called Prowl, of course but you’re always more fun to talk to (and most of my colleagues agree). Hope we can catch up again soon!_

_LD_

Starscream wondered, not for the first time, what Lockdown had on Prowl. She supposed it could be a sources-with-benefits kind of thing, but she couldn’t picture the buttoned-up Prowl sleeping around for information. Prowl didn’t go low like she did. 

“Wait.” Starscream read through the email again. _Prowl_.

Normally she’d spend the morning after a gala dissecting the conversations and connections she’d observed, especially those between Senator Prime’s staff, but thanks to Megatron she’d been too caught up in _Politico’s_ fuckery to write anything down. And there was the Iran trip coming up and voting on the military bill--shit, what had she missed.

The coffeemaker chimed and she poured herself a cup, drinking it without really tasting it and pacing back in forth in her unremarkable kitchen, visualizing the marble walls and glossy floor. Jazz had worn a bright blue dress and she’d been talking to a journalist from the _Times’s_ international relations. And Prowl had been standing in the corner of the room looking like she’d rather be anywhere else with a reporter--

“Also from the _Times._ ” Starscream scrambled for her laptop and pulled up the press list for the Iraq trip. Sure enough, both reporters were on it. Despite how shitty everything currently was, she felt a smile tug at the corner of her mouth. This was a puzzle, and she fucking loved puzzles. 

* * *

Megatron hadn’t expected Soundwave to be in her office when she got back from the senate gym. 

“You’re early.”

“Yes.”

“Are the twins okay?”

“I dropped them off at the cafe around the corner and gave them my credit card. They’re fine.” Her face was impassive but Megatron could sense her irritation--a product of the years they had worked together. “We need to discuss yesterday.”  
“I know.” Megatron cleared her throat. “I will ask Starscream to apologize for her rudeness.”

“That is unnecessary. Her rudeness is expected.” 

“Still, you shouldn’t have to deal with--” She stopped when Soundwave held up her hand.

“Senator, my issue is with the broader dynamic of the office. You know my feelings on your personal relationship with Starscream.”

Megatron crossed her arms, trying not to feel defensive. “Yes, you made that quite clear.”

“You chose to pursue that relationship anyway. That is fine, I do not expect you to follow my advice every time I provide it. However, the current situation between the two of you is unsustainable.”

“Do you mean personally or professionally?”

Soundwave seemed to be weighing her words carefully. “Here is what I know. You two have had a disagreement that has made you unable to work together. The next few months are crucial to your plans to achieve more power in the Senate, and you cannot do that if you are distracted.”

“Are you saying Starscream is a distraction?”

“I am saying the current situation cannot continue. As I see it, you either resolve the conflict or you terminate her employment.” 

“Look it’s--” Megatron sighed. “It’s complicated.”

Soundwave nodded. “I do not like putting you in a complicated situation, Senator, but it is part of my job to provide you with consistent advice.”

“I know.” Megatron ducked into her office to grab her toiletry bag and her suit for the day, still zipped neatly into its drycleaning bag. “Let me get back to you.” 

She cranked the water to as hot as possible and closed her eyes, letting the water pound against her forehead and trying to sort through the clutter in her mind. 

Starscream was a liability. She was entitled and immature and _infuriating_ , and she never knew when to leave something alone, even if it was surrounded by red flags and “Do Not Enter” signs. 

Starscream was also an asset. When she was in her element she was incredible--Megatron thought about her barking orders at party insiders on the phone during the convention. Her face, alight with excitement as she described the ad buys that would secure them two new Senate seats. 

She thought about the hotel shower in El Paso with the shampoo that smelled like cactus flowers and the noise Starscream made when Megatron had curled her fingers inside her. How her perfume had smelled on Election Night when Megatron leaned in to hug her onstage after Starscream introduced her. The shape of her wrist in her hand.

“Damn it.” Megatron turned off the shower and roughly towel-dried her hair, grabbing her phone and fumbling to queue up the podcast she’d been listening to on poetry from Japan’s Heian period. The topic was interesting, but it didn’t distract her as well as she’d hoped. 

* * *

Skywarp loved her early morning runs. It was a chance to see San Francisco before it got crowded and smoggy and the sunrise never failed to take her breath away. Of course, she was preoccupied today with what she was going to say to her sister.

Starscream was always careless about putting herself in danger. When they were both in eighth grade, at one of their family’s large and chaotic parties, a teenaged son of one of their family’s business partners had had dared Starscream to drink a Long Island iced tea in under a minute, and Starscream had done it without hesitating, smirking confidently. A half hour later, Skywarp had held her hair back as she threw up. She thought about that night often, especially as they got older and she found herself doing it again. And again. Forcing her way into her sister’s apartment with TC and a bag of groceries after Starscream had pulled multiple all-nighters, scraping her off the floor after Skyfire disappeared, sending her information on therapists that she knew her sister would never call and of course, keeping her phone turned on at all times. In case Starscream called. 

Skywarp didn’t delude herself into believing that she was the responsible one--that honor went to TC, who she and Starscream had been lucky enough to meet in high school and somehow hold on to. But since their parents’ flight had gone down--even before that, if she was being honest--Skywarp had been the best at gauging when her sister’s wildness tipped over into self-destructiveness and stepping in before she ended up hurt or worse. 

Her watch beeped sharply at her as she cleared her fourth mile, and she slowed, watching her breath form clouds in the dry morning air. It was a quick jog to the juice place, where she picked up a shot of something intense and citrusy that was supposed to boost her immune system and refilled her water bottle before dialing her sister’s number. 

Starscream sounded impatient. “What?”

“Just finished my run. Got some juice, and it made me think of you. How are you today?”

“Fine. Why wouldn’t I be?” 

“Because you called me yesterday in the middle of a breakdown.”

“I wasn’t fucking breaking down!”

“Sure.”

“Ugh, fine. Say your piece.”

“I was talking to TC yesterday and she said that one of San Francisco’s state senators died last weekend--heart attack.”

“And?” 

“And I think you should come home and run for his seat.”

Starscream laughed. “Are you serious?”

“Yes, I am. Come home. TC says you’d probably be a shoo-in for a seat in Congress in a few years if you got this seat.” Her sister was quiet. “Screamer?”

“Why would I give up a position right by the ear of one fo the most powerful people in the country for a state senate seat?”

“Because maybe you should take the easier route once! Because maybe you shouldn’t be working on the whims of a hot megalomaniac.”  
“Shut up about Megatron.”

“Am I wrong?” 

“Yes! You have no idea what’s going on here and neither does Thundercracker. Just drink your juice and stop poking around in my business.” 

“Starscream can you--Starscream?” Starscream had hung up. “Fuck.” 

Thundercracker had texted her while she was talking on the phone. <How’d it go?>

<She yelled at me>

<We can call her again tonight. How did she seem?>

<Not hungover. Almost excited?>

<Oh no>

<I know>

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup this is four chapters now b/c I couldn't fit the fallout in one chapter. I'll try to have the next chapter up soon! In the meantime hope you're all doing well and staying safe


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Starscream thinks over her potential job opportunities. Megatron tries to shove down the dawning sensation that she might have fucked up quite badly.

The weekly meeting with the rest of the Senate leadership to discuss their policy goals had gone well, and Megatron felt oddly light as she walked up the short marble staircase to her office suite. 

“Oh good, you’re here.” Starscream and Soundwave were leaning over Soundwave’s desk. Starscream met her eyes, but Megatron couldn’t read her expression. 

“Aren’t you supposed to be meeting with that journalist for damage control?”

Soundwave cleared her throat pointedly. “Starscream found an alternative solution.”

Starscream rolled her eyes. “By that, she means a better one. It turns out that Prowl leaned pretty hard on some NYT journalists to drop an unflattering piece on Senator Prime’s military bill. The story is dropping in two hours, right at the time that the week’s news gets bundled up, so the big takeaway for this weekend is gonna be ‘wow, lots of political dirty deeds,’ and not any specific story.”

“Starscream, that’s—” Megatron looked over at Soundwave. “—Could that work?”

Soundwave nodded. “It is...a preferable solution.”

Starscream rolled her eyes. “Keep it up Soundwave and I’ll think you like me.”

Soundwave looked back at her new laptop. “I do not.”

“Great.” Starscream turned back to Megatron. “Anyway, the news cycle’s fixed. Hooray.” Her eyes met Megatron’s and for a moment, she looked hopeful. It gave Megatron an uncomfortable sense of vertigo, which she covered with a sneer. 

“Well, I’m glad you finally managed to do something right.”

The hope vanished from Starscream’s face, replaced by something steely. Megatron expected her to respond, but she didn’t. 

* * *

Her office door opened and closed. Megatron recognized the noise of Starscream’s high heels. “I need to talk to you.” Megatron looked up, nonplussed. 

“I don’t know if you realized, but it’s the end of the day.”

“Not yet. Don’t worry, I won’t take long.”

Megatron walked over to her desk, leaning against it rather than sitting down. “You are aware that this is my office?”

“Yes, I know, but I want to speed this conversation up.” She crossed her arms. “Look, I’m going to step down. I’ll do it over the weekend, quietly, it’ll get wrapped up by next week’s news cycle. I’ll lay low in San Francisco for a few weeks and I won’t say anything negative about you or your workplace environment.”

Years of experience meant that Megatron kept her shock off her face, but only just. She felt the vertigo again, and worse. “Are you serious? What are you going to do about a job?”

“There’s a seat open in the California State Senate because someone died. Obviously a shame, so sad, blah blah blah, but it is kind of perfect for me—I think I’d be a shoo-in and I’ve been working on plans to run for office for longer than I’ve known you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I just brought you on to my staff. We restructured our entire office structure for you. I’m not changing everything back because you’re throwing a tantrum.”

“I actually put a little more thought into my career decisions. Believe me, this is better for both of us.” Starscream crossed her arms. “We’re not compatible. You’re a powder keg and I’m not interested in sticking around waiting for you to blow up. I work with winners, and if your governing method is as dysfunctional as I’ve seen I’ve hitched my wagon to the wrong star.”

Her gaze was unflinching, and Megatron’s anger was ebbing, replaced with something that felt unsettlingly close to panic.

“Starscream—” Megatron cleared her throat, carefully standing up and walking around her desk “Can we at least talk about this?”

“No. What’s there to talk about?” 

“Starscream, what I said—my intention wasn’t—”

“Will you  _ shut up? _ ” Starscream pointed angrily at Megatron. “It isn’t about that.”

She turned away, not meeting Megatron’s eyes, and Megatron grabbed her elbow without thinking. Starscream flinched, jerking away. “Don’t you fucking touch me.” 

“Starscream, I—” Megatron wasn’t sure what to say. She’d never been good at this kind of thing. “Look, you—you’re good at what you do, Starscream. I wouldn’t have hired you if you weren’t.”

Starscream didn’t look at her. “I know I’m good at what I do.”

“That’s why I wanted you on my team.” Megatron sat down on her office couch, gesturing encouragingly.  _ A truce. _ “Sit down.”

Starscream crossed her arms. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

Megatron bit the inside of her cheek, forcing the words out. “Please.”

Starscream rolled her eyes, and then pointedly sat down in the dark green leather chair furthest from the couch.  _ Brat. _ She suspected Starscream was trying to get her to snap again, and she wouldn’t. If she hadn’t been sure before, she was now—she couldn’t—wouldn’t let Starscream go. 

“You were right, in your job interview when you said you would be important if I wanted to be the majority whip. And when the majority leader retires this summer, you’re going to be even more important when I take over his seat.”  _ Lay it on thicker _ . “Crucial, in fact.”

Starscream crossed her arms. “Look, I got raised by two absolute masters of manipulation. I when I’m being played. And can I be honest? This pitch sucks.”

“I’m not—” Megatron cleared her throat. “All right, do you want the truth? Yes. I am playing you. Because you have something I want.”

Starscream snorted. “You’re a fucking terrible politician.”

Megatron fought down the annoyance before it boiled over into rage. She couldn’t lose her head, no matter how much Starscream infuriated her. “I have certain...vulnerabilities. Which is why I hired you. I couldn’t have pulled off what you did with the  _ Times _ .”

“You say that, but you won’t give me any information on your relationships with other important people in this city or the plans you have besides eventual world domination.”

“Starscream—”

“I’m good enough for you to screw, but I’m not good enough to talk about strategy with. Soundwave is, but not me. I joined you to be your right hand, not your fucking arm candy.” She stood up, grabbing her purse, and the words were out of Megatron’s mouth before she knew what she was going to say.

“Starscream, Sentinel had someone close to me killed.”

Starscream froze, slowly turning back around. She stared at Megatron’s face for a long moment, and then, apparently seeing truth there, delicately sat back down in the chair. “Oh.”

Unable to sit still, Megatron stood up and walked over to pour herself a drink. “Soundwave was with me, after it happened, that’s how she knows.” She swallowed hard, trying to dissolve the lump that had somehow appeared in her throat, dropping ice cubes into two glasses. “Soundwave, and Tarn, and you now. You’re the only ones who know.”

“I had no idea.” 

“It’s not something I talk about often.”

“Okay.” 

Megatron turned to look at Starscream. “Okay?”

“I didn’t think it was anything like that.” She looked down at her lap for a long moment, and then met Megatron’s eyes. “I... fuck. What the hell am I supposed to do with this?”

Megatron chose her words carefully. “I don’t expect you to do anything.” 

“Oh, that’s bullshit. You wouldn’t have told me if you didn’t expect me to do anything.”

“You know I want something.” Megatron handed Starscream her drink. “I want you to stay on as my chief of staff.” 

Starscream took the glass from her and took a sip, wincing only a little, and then placed the glass on the table, pointedly ignoring the prominently placed coaster. “I want new furniture for my office.”

Megatron hadn’t expected that. “All right.”

“If you have a strategy meeting, I want to either be there, or briefed on it. I want access to your daily schedule. If you give me instructions about something, I want an explanation. You don’t bark orders at me like I’m an intern.”

Megatron took a sip of her own drink. “That seems fair. In return, I’d ask that you inform me before you leak stories to tabloid reporters.”

Starscream. “Finally—” She met Megatron’s eyes. “If you think I’m good at my job, treat me like it.” She drained the rest of her glass and stood up. “All right.” 

“You don’t want another drink?”

Starscream looked down at the empty glass and then up at Megatron. “No.” She took a step towards the door and then sighed. “Sure.”

* * *

For a moment, Starscream wasn’t sure where she was, and then she remembered the past hours. Megatron’s arm was draped over her waist, and she could feel her steady breath on the back of her head. They were lying on her ugly antique rug on top of some couch cushions in a tangled nest of decorative pillows and the knitted blankets she kept in her closet that smelled like her house in Texas. It took Starscream a few minutes to slip out from under her boss’s arm without disturbing her. The office was chilly, and she grabbed Megatron’s shirt off the floor and pulled it on. Normally she wouldn’t be caught dead in polyester, but it did retain heat well and she needed protection while she hunted for the thermostat. Upon checking her phone, she discovered it was well past midnight and she had 4 missed calls from Skywarp and one from Thundercracker. She rolled her eyes and swiped “call back.”

“Screamer! What’s up?”

“Do you know what time it is here?”

“Oh, how the turntables. TC, say hi!”

She heard Thundercracker in the background “Hi Starscream.”

“Hi.” She found the thermostat and cranked it up before heading to her own office to get her fuzzy slippers. “Why did you call me so many times?”

“You said you’d get back to me about the state senate seat! I was looking up flights and I think you could be out here by Sunday—”

Starscream cut in. “—Warp.” 

There was a long pause on the other line, and then Skywarp spoke again. “You’re not quitting.”

“I said earlier I’d think about it, not that I would do it.”

She heard muffled voices on the other line.

_ “Unbelievable—” _

_ “Honey—” _

_ “You should have heard her yesterday _ — _ ” _

The line went dead again and then Thundercracker spoke. “Skywarp’s taking a break.”

Starscream stared out her office window at the white marble buildings and iron fences and cold glittering stars. “I don’t need you two judging me.”

“She’s not, she’s just worried about you.”

“You know she’s just as much of a trainwreck as I am, she just gets away with it because she has a ridiculously high alcohol tolerance and an annoyingly cheerful personality.”

“Sure.”

“It’s not too late to get out of this family.”

“I already accepted the ring, Screamer. We’re just worried about you.”

“Don’t—” She rolled her eyes. “Look, I can handle this.”

Skywarp’s voice returned. “Really? Because when you called me—” 

“You’ve called me having a breakdown plenty of times. You had a breakdown a week ago when you didn’t know whether to get TC concert tickets or museum passes for her birthday.”

Thundercracker gasped. “Wait, what?”

“Screamer! I told you that in confidence.”

“If you air my dirty laundry, I air yours.”

“Fuck you.”

“Fuck  _ you! _ ” Starscream bit her lip so she would stop smiling. 

“I just want to know that you’re okay.”

“And I am. I’m a big girl.”

“Megatron just seems like she’s a lot.”

“She is. But I’ve had tough bosses before.”

“Not like her.”

Starscream could hear Megatron stirring in the other room. “Yes, exactly like her. Megalomaniacs are all the same, ‘Warp.” 

Thundercracker sounded skeptical. “Sure.”

“As fun as this has been, I have to go. Some of us have work tomorrow. Bye.”

Megatron pushed her office door open, looking unfairly attractive, even bleary-eyed and wrapped in one of her cheap blankets. “Who was that?” 

“Family shit.” She stretched, relishing how the older woman’s eyes traveled over her body. “You too worn out for another round?” Megatron’s eyes glinted and she crossed the room in a few steps, lifting Starscream off her feet as easily as if she weighed nothing at all. Starscream wrapped her legs around Megatron’s waist, losing herself in the other woman’s mouth on hers, her hands in her hair. Megatron dropped her on the pile of couch cushions, pushing her legs apart so she could kneel between them. She looked down at Starscream with a smirk. 

“You’re wearing my shirt.”

Starscream rolled her eyes, hoping Megatron wouldn’t notice that her face was heating up. “Yeah, because it’s freezing in your fucking office. You know you have a budget that includes heating?”   
“Oh, you poor thing. I’ll warm you up.” Megatron pushed her legs further apart and kissed her thigh. Starscream leaned back on her elbows, staring up at the white plaster ceiling, and Megatron cleared her throat.

“Ah-ah. Eyes on me.” 

“You can’t tell if you’re doing a good job unless you can read my face?”

“I can tell. I just like to see you try to keep it together. Until you can’t anymore.”   
“Fuck you.”

“I believe it is the opposite.” Megatron’s mouth was on her before she could respond, and Starscream clenched the hem of the older woman’s shirt in her fist, trying not to let Megatron see what she was thinking. It was thrilling, these moments between the two of them—treacherous like they were driving along one of California’s twistiest roads at midnight. 

_ “I’ve had tough bosses before” _

_ “Not like her.” _

_ I’m not in over my head _ , she sternly said to herself.  _ I  _ don’t  _ get in over my head.  _ And then all she could think about was how good Megatron was making her feel, her hands on her thighs, her mouth on her cunt. 

“That’s my Starscream.”

“Shut up.” She wasn’t sure if it was the possessiveness or the affection in Megatron’s voice that frightened her more. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the delay in getting this last chapter out I basically had to rewrite the whole thing but hopefully, you like the finished product! Anyway, happy holidays to everyone, stay safe, wear a mask, and be nice to each other. All my love <3


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